Servants occasionally wait at table

Servants occasionally wait at table in clam

invite gloves: there are few things more dis-agreeable than the thumb of a

clumsy waiter in your plate.        .

 The

custom, however, of servants waiting at table in gloves, has never been adopted

in the mansions of people of distinction. A white damask napkin, in which his

thumb is enveloped, is given to each servant, and this effectually precludes

its contact with your plate.

Glass wine-coolers, half filled ‘with

water, should be placed next each person at table. „

Finger glasses, filled with warm water,

come on with the dessert. Wet a corner of your napkin, and wipe your mouth,

then rinse your fingers; but do not practise the filthy custom of gargling your

mouth at table, albeit the   usage

prevails amongst a few, who think that, because it is a foreign habit, it

cannot be disgusting.

The custom of drinking toasts, and of

forcing people to drink bumper after bumper of wine, until drunkenness results,

is quite banished from gentlemanly society to its proper place — the tavern. It

arises from a mistaken idea of making visitors welcome; the Amplitron of the

feast overlooking the fact of its being much more hospitable to allow his

guests to do as they please, and to take only as much wine as they may feel

convenient or agreeable. It is but a miserable boast, that a man has sufficient

^strength of stomach to sit his companions “under the table.

Never pare an apple or a pear for a lady

Never pare an apple or a pear for a lady

unless she desire you, and then be careful to use your fork to hold it; you may

sometimes offer to divide a very large pear with or for a person.              .

At some of the best houses, coffee is brought into the dining-room before the gentlemen quit the table a very good custom, as it gently prevents excess, the guests retiring to the ladies immediately afterwards; it also allows those who have other engagements to take coffee before they quit the house. Coffee should be brought in at an hour previously appointed, without the hell being rung for it, but a sufficient interval must, be allowed, lest the seem chary of his wine. For instance, nine o’clock is a good hour if the dinner were at six; or ten o’clock for one which commenced at seven.

At present, coffee is not brought into the

dining-room in fashionable houses, except when a small party, intending to go

to a theatre, are pressed for time — it is always served in the drawing-room.

Nevertheless, the former is a very excellent arrangement in country houses, for

very obvious reasons.

Traditional Crafts

Traditional crafts meet with the future

Our Country has so many traditional handicraft in number, however today each is known by five people at most; who are not able to transfer them to future generations. In the end, these handicraft works disappear off the face of the earth, never to be remembered…

On its 85th foundation anniversary, Anadolu Sigorta embarked on a quest of a social responsibility project and managed to take a most positive step towards protecting our traditional art. That is how the ‘One Master Thousand Masters’ project is realized.

Aims of the ‘One Master Thousand Masters’ project are; to draw public attention to vanishing professions and local values, to rejuvenate these professions and to help deliver masters’ experiences to the future. The project is conducted through technical consultancy of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Research and Education Directorate. The ministry determines and suggests the professions as well as the cities.

Kargi cloth

I was born on 10 June 1983 in Kargi. Studied in Trakya University Department of General Textile Finishing. I teach ‘Kargi cloth weaving’, an almost forgotten handicraft. This profession dates back to 1850s.In Kargi and in neighboring villages, women would construct their own clothing and trousseau on weaving rooms that were present in almost every house.

As it is hundred percent cotton, thus anti-perspiring, Kargi cloth was widely used especially in underwear, women-men shirts and kids clothing. In addition to that, textiles woven with silk and drapery, ‘peskir’ (thin towel) and gowns had been sine qua non of trousseau. Kargi cloth experienced its golden age in 1960s as almost in every house there was a weaving loom. However, with the technological and industrial developments, easy, effortless and cheap industrial weaving caused its oblivion.

Thanks to the ‘One Master Thousand Masters’ project, which is initiated for the purpose of protecting our cultural heritage, now looms are set, this art’s last representatives take the wheel and train the new generation. I have practiced this art for five years. With the occasion of my interest in handicraft, I learned it from a professional Kargi cloth weaver Munevver Ozata, who I still work with. We worked and still are working in the Kargi cloth-weaving workshop, which is established within the scope of public education.

Source: https://lifestyle.doturkey.com/traditional-crafts/

Adopt the Dharma

The need of carrying out their respective functions was so strongly ingrained in the minds of the various classes that ordinarily they would never think of deviating from their dharma The Bhagavad-Gita taught that people should lay down their lives in defense of their own dharma rather than adopt the dharma of others, which is dangerous.

The lower orders worked hard in the firm

belief that they would deserve a better life in the next world or birth. This

belief lessened the intensity and frequency of tensions and conflicts between

those who actually produced and those who lived off these producers as princes,

priests, officials, soldiers and big merchants.

Hence the necessity for exercising coercion

against the lower orders was not so strong in ancient India, What was done by

slaves and other producing sections in Greece and Rome under, the threat of

whip was done by the visas and sudras out of conviction formed through

brahmanical indoctrination.

Philosophical Systems

The Indian thinkers looked upon the world

as illusion and deliberated deeply on the elation between the soul and God. In

fact philosophers of no other country delved as deeply into this problem as the

Indians did. Ancient India is considered famous for its contribution to

philosophy and spiritualism. But the Indians also developed a materialistic

view of the world.

In the six systems of philosophy which the

Indians created we find elements of materialist philosophy in the Samkhya

system of Kapila, who was born around 580 B.C. He believed that the soul can

attain liberation only through real knowledge. Real knowledge can be acquired

througn .observation, inference and words. The Samkhya system does not

recognize the existence of God. According to it, the world has not been created

by God but by “’nature and the world and human life are regulated by

natural forces.

Materialist philosophy received the

greatest impetus from Charvaka, who lived in about the sixth century B.C. The

philosophy that he propounded is known as lokayata. He argued that what is not

experienced by man through his sensual organs does not really exist. It implies

that gods do not exist. The Indians thus developed both the idealist as well as

the materialist systems of philosophy. The idealist system taught that the

world is an illusion and ignorance.

People were asked by the Upanishads to

abandon the world and to strive for real knowledge. Western thinkers have taken

to the teachings of the Upanishads because they are unable to solve the human

problems created by modern technology. The famous German philosopher

Schopenhauer finds in his system a place for the Vedas and the Upanishads. Ho

used to say that the Upanishads consoled him m this life and would also console

.him after death.

Economic Privileges

The rate of payment and economic privileges

differed according to the Varna to which a person belonged. Thus a Brahmana was

required to pay two per cent interest on loans, a Kshatriya three per cent, a

visa four per cent, and a sutra five per cent. Sudra guests could be fed only’

if they had done some work at the house of the host These rules laid down in

the Dharma satraps or law books may not have been observed strictly, but they

indicate the norms which were set by society

Since both priests and warriors lived on

the taxes, tributes, tithes and labor supplied by peasants and artisans, their

relations were marked by occasional feuds for the sharing of social savings.

The Kshatriyas were also hurt by the vanity of the brahmaness, who claimed the

highest status m society. But both resolved their conflicts and differences m

face of the opposition of the visas and sutras, Ancient texts emphasize that

the Kshatriyas cannot prosper without the support of the brahmaness, and the

brahmaness cannot prosper without the support of the Kshatriyas, Both can

thrive and rule the world only if they cooperate with each other

Social Crisis and Rise of Landed Classes

For several centuries the system worked

well in the Gangetic basin, which saw a successive series of large states. In

the first and second centuries A.D. it was marked by bumping trade and urbanism.

In this phase art flourished as never before.

The climax of the old order was reached in

about the third century. Then its progressive role seems to have been

exhausted. Around the third century A.D. the old social formation was afflicted

with a deep crisis. The crisis is clearly reflected in the description of the

Kali age in those portions of the Puranas which belong to the third and fourth

centuries A.D.

The Kali age is characterized by varna

samara, i.e. intermixture of varnas or social orders, which implies that the

visas and sutras (peasants, artisans and labourers) either refused to , perform

producing functions assigned to them or else the visa peasants declined to pay

taxes and the sutras refused to make their labor available.

They did not observe the vamp boundaries

relating to marriage and other types of social intercourse. On account of this

situation the epics emphasize the importance’ of Dana or coercive measures, and

Manu lays down that the visas and sutras should not be allowed to deviate from

their duties. The kings appear as upholders and restorers of the vamp system.

Phrygian Valley

Cradle of Culture: Phrygian valley

On one side monumental tumuli, giant rock-carved reliefs, altars and cave dwellings, on the other fairy chimney formations like works of art and the thermal springs that have warmed the lofty steppes of the Anatolian plateau for centuries. While wandering in the valleys and highlands, you grasp more easily the place in human history of the Phrygian civilization and its rich cultural heritage.

The region that includes the provinces of Afyonkarahisar, Kutahya and Eskisehir, where the monuments of the Phrygian civilization are located, is known today as the Valley of the Phrygians. Three cities still preserve their historic links with this magnificent geography, which illumines the present with the light of the past. Countless local riches, such as Afyonkarahisar’s marbles, Kutahya tiles and Eskisehir’s alabaster, are the touchstones of this cultural journey.

Every day at dawn, first the castle perched on the colossal rock mass that rises behind it is illuminated at Afyonkarahisar. Then, spreading across the lower reaches of Afyonkarahisar Castle, the light reaches the historic texture of a house close to four hundred years old.

This region, where you can find vestiges of traditional Afyonkarahisar life, is among the finest living examples of Anatolian civil architecture. Strolling about here, a person is astonished to encounter old-fashioned grocery stores with their characteristic smell that brings back childhood memories.

Afyonkarahisar

Situated at the point of intersection of the inter-city highways to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, Afyonkarahisar is always alive and humming. The hotels and large shopping centers that have spread to the province keep the region ever vibrant.

Like a virtual continuation today of the ancient trade routes, this junction and its dynamics are a major contributor to the city’s economy.

Another city center exhibiting vestiges of history in the Phrygian Valley is Kutahya, which stands out for its mosques, baths, mausoleums, fountains, old mansions and museums. It is easier to get a handle on the city’s magnificent past on Germiyan Sokak, which is lined with old houses.

You can also find rich examples of the local handicrafts all over the city. The pottery that dates all the way back to the Phrygians and the tiles that symbolize the city are among the branches of industry that contribute to the local economy.

To understand the place where one lives and to appreciate its beauty, sometimes one has to look at it from another angle. To be able to say that one has seen Eskisehir, which could be considered the modem face of the Valley of the Phrygians, one should pay a brief visit to Kent (City) Park, which has been dubbed the ‘lungs ‘of Eskisehir, or survey the city’s skyline from Selale (Waterfall) Park.

Watered by the Porsuk River, this progressive city is Anatolia’s rising star with its green cover, its transportation net that functions like clockwork, and its refreshing parks. Eskisehir also boasts a young and highly educated population, in which the university and its extensive campuses undoubtedly play the largest part. You’ll encounter young lovers on almost every street here, or students on an outing by gondola on the Porsuk, livening up the atmosphere with their cries of glee.

Source: https://privatetours.info/phrygian-valley/

Sanskrit literature

The sixth seventh centuries are equally

important in the history of Sanskrit literature. Sanskrit continued to be used

by the ruling class from about the second century A.D. As the rulers came to

live in pomp and splendor, the style of their language became verbose and ornate.

The ornate style in Sanskrit prose and

poetry became common from the seventh century, and the traditional Sanskrit pundits

still love to write in it. The best example of verbiage in prose is found in

the writings of Bana. Although the prose of Bana was not easy to imitate, it

continued to serve as a model for Sanskrit writers in the medieval period.

From the seventh century A.D. we also

notice a remarkable development in the linguistic history of India. Buddhist

writings from eastern India show the faint beginnings of Bengali, Assamese,

Maithili, Oriya, and Hindi. Similarly the Jaina Prakrit works of the same

period show the beginning of Gujaiati and Rajasthani.

It seems that each region came to develop

its own language on account of its isolation from the others. On the breakup of

the Gupta empire there arose several independent principalities, which

naturally hindered countrywide contacts and communications. The decline of

trade meant lack of communication between the various regions, and this promoted

the growth of regional languages.

Regional scripts became more, prominent

from the seventh century A.D. From Maurya to Gupta times, although the script

underwent changes, more or less the same script continued to obtain throughout

the country. Thus a person who has mastered the script of the Gupta age can

read inscriptions from different parts of the country in that period. But from

the seventh century every region came to have its own script, and hence nobody

can read post Gupta inscriptions found m different parts of the country unless

he learns several scripts

Bhakti and Tantrism

In sculpture and construction of temples

every region came to evolve its own style from the seventh eighth centuries.

Particularly south India tended to become the land of stone temples. Stone and

bronze were the two mam media in which divinities were represented. Bronze statues

began to be manufactured on an impressive scale.

Although they are also found in good

numbers in the Himalayan territories, they predominated in south India because

of their use in brahmanical temples and in eastern India because of their use m

Buddhist temples and monasteries. Although the same gods and goddesses were

worshipped throughout the country, people of every region portrayed them in

sculptures in their own way.

At the Well

On the threshold, through the faint light of the early dawn, he noticed a human figure.

“Who are you, there?”

“It is me, grandpa, Anoka! I want to die. Forgive me, if you can.’ Grandpa stopped, swayed, and almost fell.

“My child, it is sinful to talk like that. Look at my hair, not even the sheep’s wool is whiter.”

Anoka grasped the hem of his cloak which hung down from his shoulders, and kissed it.

“I have sinned awfully. I destroyed the harmony of your home. For-give me, for God’s sake!”

Nothing easier than to make an old man cry. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He took her head in both his hands and kissed her.

“Come in.”

She followed him into the room.

“Sit down there.”

She sat on a stool, and grandpa on the edge of the bed.

“Shell some of these beans.”

Remained silent

She did so. Grandpa looked at her with joy. Both remained silent, without uttering a sound, yet their hearts spoke. Day began to reign.

“Grandpa looked rejuvenated. He skipped rather than walked.

“Come to the well!”

They reached it.

“Draw some water.”

Anoka did so.

“Pour some.”

Anoka poured, and grandpa splashed his face and head.

“Dry me.”

Anoka began to dry his head carefully. It was easy to wipe away the water, but an old man’s eyes are weak and tears continued to roll down his cheeks.

Grandpa noticed some folks standing in the yard.

Poor girl

“Come nearer, all of you. Why don’t you wash yourselves? Don’t you see Anoka is waiting to pour for all of you? Yes, all of you. Poor girl, she will do it. But if she were to ask somebody to do the same for her’ there would be three hundred growlings.”

Rather timidly, the men and women came closer to the well. And like well-bred, citified people, they each said to Anoka: “Thank you!”

Arsen’s face shone with happiness. He too reached the well, spread his feet, bent forward, and held out his hands.

“Pour!”

She did so.

Arsen was in the seventh heaven.

“And how fine you pour! Take it easy, I am getting wet. Stop, not so, not so.”

She rolled up his sleeves, and with her right hand poured.

“That’s right, God bless you.”

Petriya ran around, tears rolling down her cheeks, telling something to one woman, questioning another.

Grandpa, overwhelmed with joy, went into his room, opened an old wooden box, took out a string of pearls, put it carefully in a spotted handkerchief, hid it under his waist, and returned to the well.

On their knees and pray

They were through with washing. They all felt as if they were standing on holy ground and listening to a sacred choral chant: “The Lord blessed the waters of the earth….” If by chance someone in the group would have given a sign, all would have fallen on their knees and prayed. Grandpa looked around with shining dignity and pride. Dear old fellow!

“You are fine people. No one here to pour water for Anoka.”

All of them jumped and reached the coop.

“Too late now. I like to do it myself. Come, my child, wash yourself!”

It is hard to say whether grandpa’s hands were shivering, or Anoka’s heart trembling. He dried her with his own towel, and hung the string of pearls around her neck.

“She did everything by herself, poor child. But I will repeat what I said last night, and every one of you shall-remember it: ‘May God forsake anyone who insults her.’ ”

Heaven looks down on earth and smiles with joy looking at human affairs in amazement. What a funny two-legged creature is man! He gazes into the sky, opens his arms in despair, exclaims in mysterious sounds, prays and waits and wonders. Something unknown to man burns in his bosom; his soul expands and rises like holy incense longing for communion with the universe…. By God, it was always so!

Source: https://www.marietaminkova.com/at-the-well-part-7/

South-east Asia

Indian culture also spread to South-east

Asia, but not through the medium of Buddhism Except in the case of Burma it was

mostly diffused through the brahmanical cults. The name Suvarnabhumi was given

to Pegu and Moulmeiri in Burma, and merchants from Broach, Banaras and

Bhagalpur traded with Burma. Considerable Buddhist remains of Gupta times have

been found in Burma.

From the first century A.D. India

established close relations with Java in Indonesia, which was called Suvarna diva

or the island of gold by the ancient Indians, The earliest Indian settlements m

Java were established in A D. 56. In the second century of the Christian era

several small Indian panicle polities were set up.

When the Chinese pilgrim Fahsien visited Java in the fifth century A.D, I do found the brahmanical religion prevalent there. In the early centuries of the Christian era the Pallavas founded their colonies in Sumatra. Eventually these flowered to the kingdom of Sri Vijay, which continued to be an important power and a center of Indian culture from the fifth to the tenth century A.D. The Hindu settlements in Java and Sumatra became channels for the radiation of Indian culture. The process of founding settlements continued afterwards.

Indo China

In Indo china, which is at present divided into Vietnam, Kampuchea and Labs, the Indians set up two powerful kingdoms in Kamboja and Champa The powerful kingdom of Kamboja, identical with modern Kampuchea, was founded in the sixth century A D. Its rulers were devotees of Siva! They developed Kamboja as a center of Sanskrit learning, and numerous inscriptions were composed in this language.

In the neighborhood of Kamboja at Champa, embracing

southern Vietnam and the, fringes of northern Vietnam, it seems that the

traders set up their colonies. The king bf Champa was also a Saiva, and the

official language of Champa was Sanskrit. This country was considered to be a

great center of education of the Vedas and Dharmasastras.

Indian settlements In the Indian Ocean

continued to flourish till the thirteenth century and during this period

intermingled with the local peoples. Continuous comingling gave rise to a new

type of art, language and literature. We find in these countries several art

objects, which show .a happy blending (of both Indian and indigenous elements.

It is astonishing that the greatest Buddhist temple is found pot in India but

in Borobudur m Indonesia Considered to be the largest Buddhist temple in the

whole world, it was constructed in the eighth century A D., and 436 images of

Buddha were engraved on it.

History of the Deccan

The Vakataka power was followed by that of

the Chalukyas of Badami who played an important role in the history of the

Deccan and south India for about two centuries till A.D, 757, when they were

overthrown by their feudatories, the Rashtrakutas. The Chalukyas claimed their

descent either from Brahman or Manu or Moon They boast that their ancestors

ruled at Ayodhya, but all this was done to claim legitimacy and respectability’

Really they seem to have been a local Kanarese people, who were improvised into

the ruling varna under brahmanical influence.

The Chalukyas set up their kingdom towards

the beginning of the sixth century A.D. in the western Deccan. They established

their capital at Vatapi, modern Badami, in the district of. Bijapur which forms

a part of Karnataka. Later they branched off into several independent ruling

houses, but the mam branch continued to rule at Vatapi for two centuries in

this period no other power in the Deccan was as important as the Chalukyas of

Badami until we come to Vijayanagar in late medieval times.

On the Tipns of the Sdtavahana power in the

eastern part of the peninsula there arose the Ikshvakus m the KrishnaGuntur

region. They seem to have been a local tribe who adopted the exalted name of

the Ikshvakus in order to demonstrate the antiquity of their lineage. They have

left behind many monuments at Nagarjunakonda and Dharanikota They started the

practice of land grants in the Krishna Guntur region, where several of their

copperplate charters have been discovered The Ikshvakus were supplanted by the

Pal lavas. The term pal lava means creeper, and is a Sanskrit version of the

Tamil word today, which also carries the same meaning.

Toridainadu or the land

The Pallavas were possibly a local tribe

who established their authority m the Toridainadu or the land of creepers. But

it took them some time to be completely civilized because in Tamil the Word pal

lava is also a synonym of robber. The authority of the Pallavas extended over

both southern Andhra and northern Tamil Nadu. They set up their capital at

Kanchi, identical with modem Kanchipuram which became a town of temples and

Vedio learning under them, the early Pallavas came into conflict with the

Kadambas, who had founded their rule in northern Karnataka in the fourth

century A D They claim to be brahmanas, and they rewarded their fellow caste

men generously.

The Kadamba kingdom was founded by

Mayurasarman It is said that he came to receive education at Kanchi, but he was

driven out unceremoniously. Smarting under this insult the Kadamba chief set up

his camp in a forest, and defeated the Pallavas possibly with the help of the

forest tribes.

Propagation of Buddhism

The propagation of Buddhism promoted

India’s contacts with Sri Lanka, Burma, China and Central Asia. Most probably

the Buddhist missionaries were sent to Sri Lanka in the reign of Asoka m the

third century B.C. Short inscriptions in Brahmi script belonging to the second

and first centuries B.C. have been found in Sri Lanka. In course of time

Buddhism came to acquire a permanent stronghold in Sri Lanka. In the early

centuries of the Christian era Buddhism spread from India to Burma.

The Burmese developed the Theravada form of

Buddhism, and erected many temples and statues in honor of the Buddha what is

more significant, the Burmese and Sri Lanka Buddhists produced a rich corpus of

Buddhist literature, not to be found m India. All the Pali texts were compiled

and commented upon m Sri Lanka. Although Buddhism disappeared from India it

continued to command a large following in Burma and Sri Lank*, which is the

case even now.

Beginning with the reign of Kaiushka a

large number of Indian missionaries went to China, Central Asia and Afghanistan

for preaching their religion. From China Buddhism spread to Korea and Japan,

and it was in search of Buddhist texts and doctrines that several Chinese

pilgrims such as Fahsien and Hsuan Tsang came to India. Eventually this contact

proved fruitful to both the countries. A Buddhist colony cropped up at Tun

Huang, which was the starting point of the companies of merchants going across

the desert. The Indians learnt the art of growing silk from China, and the

Chinese learnt from India the art of Buddhist painting.

Afghanistan and Central Asia

The two other great centers of Buddhism in

ancient times were Afghanistan and Central Asia, In Afghanistan many statues of

the Buddha and monasteries have been discovered. Begram and Bamiyan situated in

the north of this country are famous for such relics. Begram is famous for ivory

work, which is similar to Indian workmanship m Kushan times. Bamiyan hats the

distinction of possessing the tallest Buddha statue cut out of rock in the

early centuries of the Christian era. It has thousands of natural and

artificial caves m ‘which the monks lived Buddhism continued to hold ground in

this country till the seventh century A.D. when it was supplanted by Islam.’

A similar process took place in the Central

Asian republics of the USSR. Excavations have revealed Buddhist monasteries,

stupas and inscriptions, and manuscripts written in Indian languages at several

places in the Central Asian parts of the USSR As a result of the extension of

the Kushan rule Prakrit written in Kharosthi script spread to Central Asia,

where we find many Prakrit inscriptions and manuscripts

belonging to the fourth century A.D.

Written language was used for official and day to day correspondence as well as

for the preservation and propagation of Buddhism In Central Asia Buddhism

continued to be a dominant religious force till it was replaced by Islam around

the end of seventh century A.D.

Certain rich man

I heard of a certain rich man, who was as

notorious for parsimony as Hatim Tai for liberality. His external form was

adorned with wealth, but the meanness of his disposition was so radiated, that

he never gave even a loaf of bread to any one: he would not have bestowed a

scrap on the cat of Abu Horiera, nor thrown a bone to the dog of companions of

the cave. In short, no one ever saw his door open nor his table spread. A

Durwesh never knew his victuals, excepting by the smell; no bird ever picked up

any crumbs that fell from his table. I heard that he was sailing on the

Mediterranean Sea towards Egypt, with all the pride of Pharaoh in his

imagination, according to the word of God, ‘Until the time that he was

drowned.’ Suddenly a contrary wind assailed the ship, in the manner as they

have said, ‘What can the heart do that it may not record with your sorrowful disposition;

the north wind is not always favourable for the ship.’ He lifted up the hands

of imploration, and uttered ineffectual lamentations. God hath said, ‘“When you

embark on ships offer up your prayers unto the Lord.’

Of what benefit will it be to the servant

in the time of need, to lift up his hands in imploration, which are extended

during prayers, but when any favour is wanted are folded under his arms?

‘Bestow comfort on others with silver and gold, and from thence derive also

benefit yourself. Know thou, that this edifice of yours will remain, use

therefore bricks of gold and bricks of silver.’

They have related, that he had poor

relations in Egypt, who were enriched with the remainder of his wealth. At his

death they rent their old garments and made up silks and damask. In that same

week I saw one of them riding a fleet horse, with an angelic youth running

after him. I said, “Alas if the dead man should return amongst his tribe and

relations, the heirs would feel more sorrow in restoring him his estate than

they suffered on account of his death.” On the strength of the acquaintance

which had formerly subsisted between us, I pulled his sleeve, and said, “Enjoy

thou, 0 good man of happy endowments, that wealth which the late possessor

accumulated to no purpose.”

Debilitated fisherman

A powerful fish fell into the net of a debilitated

fisherman, who not being able to hold it, the fish got the

better of him, snatched the net out of his hand, and escaped. A boy went to

fetch water from the river: the flood tide came in and carried him away. The

net had hitherto always taken the fish, but this time the fish escaped and

carried away the net. The other fisherman grieved at the loss, and reproached

him, that having such a fish in his net, he had not been able to hold it. He

replied, “Alas, my brethren what could be done, seeing it was not my lucky day,

and the fish had yet a day remaining? A fisherman without luck cachet not fish

in the Tigris, neither will the fish without fate expire on the dry ground.

Killed a millipede

One who had neither hands nor feet having killed

a millipede, a pious man passing by said, “Holy God, although

this had a thousand feet, yet when fate overtook him he could not escape from

one destitute of hands and feet. When the enemy who seizes the soul comes

behind, fate ties the feet of the swift man. At that moment when the enemy

attacks us behind, it is needless to draw the Ivianyan bow.”

Fat blockhead clad

I saw a fat blockhead clad in

a rich dress and mounted on an Arab horse, with fine Egyptian linen round his

head. Someone said, “0 Sady, what is your opinion of this notable dress on this

ignorant brute?” I replied, “It is like bad writing executed in water-gold. In

truth, amongst men he is an ass with the form and bleating of a calf. You

cannot say this brute resembles a man excepting in his garment, his turban, and

external form: of all his property, estate, and bodily faculties, it is not

lawful to take anything but his blood. If a man oi noble birth should happen to

be poor, imagine not that his dignity will be thereby lessened; but should a

Jew be so rich as to drive a gold nail into his silver threshold, do not on

that account esteem him noble.”

Obtain a grain of silver

A thief said to a mendicant, “Are you not

ashamed to hold out your hand to every sordid wretch to obtain a grain of silver?”

He replied, “It is better to stretch out the hand for a grain of silver than to

have it cut off for having stolen a dang and a half.”

Certain rich man

I heard of a certain rich man, who was as

notorious for parsimony as Hatim Tai for liberality. His external form was

adorned with wealth, but the meanness of his disposition was so radiated, that

he never gave even a loaf of bread to any one: he would not have bestowed a

scrap on the cat of Abu Horiera, nor thrown a bone to the dog of companions of

the cave. In short, no one ever saw his door open nor his table spread. A

Durwesh never knew his victuals, excepting by the smell; no bird ever picked up

any crumbs that fell from his table. I heard that he was sailing on the

Mediterranean Sea towards Egypt, with all the pride of Pharaoh in his

imagination, according to the word of God, ‘Until the time that he was

drowned.’ Suddenly a contrary wind assailed the ship, in the manner as they

have said, ‘What can the heart do that it may not record with your sorrowful disposition;

the north wind is not always favourable for the ship.’ He lifted up the hands

of imploration, and uttered ineffectual lamentations. God hath said, ‘“When you

embark on ships offer up your prayers unto the Lord.’

Of what benefit will it be to the servant

in the time of need, to lift up his hands in imploration, which are extended

during prayers, but when any favour is wanted are folded under his arms?

‘Bestow comfort on others with silver and gold, and from thence derive also

benefit yourself. Know thou, that this edifice of yours will remain, use

therefore bricks of gold and bricks of silver.’

They have related, that he had poor

relations in Egypt, who were enriched with the remainder of his wealth. At his

death they rent their old garments and made up silks and damask. In that same

week I saw one of them riding a fleet horse, with an angelic youth running

after him. I said, “Alas if the dead man should return amongst his tribe and

relations, the heirs would feel more sorrow in restoring him his estate than

they suffered on account of his death.” On the strength of the acquaintance

which had formerly subsisted between us, I pulled his sleeve, and said, “Enjoy

thou, 0 good man of happy endowments, that wealth which the late possessor

accumulated to no purpose.”

Romania Clayton

Thomas J. Clayton who visited many

countries passed through Bulgaria also. Going from Varna to Ruse and then on to

Romania

Clayton was “surprised” to discover that both Bulgaria and

Romania were “such fertile countries.” He wrote that he “never saw better

pasture lands or wheat fields” anywhere else in the world. These lands reminded

him of the prairie lands of Illinois. He was also surprised to find that there

were no farm houses like in America. The lands, he stated, were “tilled by

peasants who live in miserable little huts, or in villagesOur route lay through

a spur of the Balkan Mountains and was very picturesque very beautiful and

entertainingThe scenery of these mountains is soft and has a soothing rather

than a stirring influence upon the beholder.” The author believed that if peace

prevailed in these parts of the world, Bulgaria and Romania “will soon become

rich and prosperous.”

There are few more accounts by Americans on

Bulgaria. However, they are not much more different than those presented. Many

a time what Americans said about the Bulgarians or for that matter about other

peoples, reflected on their own personal character or how they valued American

culture and way of life. The descriptions presented by these travelers on a

variety of topics, like national character and even the history of Bulgaria are

hardly scientific or correct accounts.

Bulgarian personality

Almost all of these travelers present

nothing but clichés. They did not have the necessary expertise to carefully

analyze the Bulgarian

personality, their ethnic typicalness in terms of common

national cultural values. The frame of reference these travelers used was

founded on their perspective of American history and culture as the

repositories of values of liberty, freedom, democracy, justice, religion,

discipline, industry and progress.

Almost all of the authors sympathized with

the plight of the Bulgarian people under Ottoman domination. They all condemned

the alien system of despotism and many a time showed their preference for

republicanism. The Ottoman system did not permit the development of the

individual, the arts and crafts as well as agriculture and industry. The

authors were aware that the Ottoman state was in its stages of disintegration.

Those who visited Bulgaria before 1878 believed that the Bulgarians would

become free and those who travelled after the liberation of the country praised

the attempts of the Bulgarians to preserve their independence.

Process Mesopotamia

We must now consider more closely the

manner in which these artificial hills come to be created. Any of the mounds

which we have mentioned in the preceding paragraphs would probably serve to

illustrate the broad lines of this process: but those in Mesopotamia will

perhaps serve our purpose best, since they are uncomplicated by the presence of

large stone buildings and at the same time provide examples of some anatomical

eccentricities seldom found elsewhere. This process, then, by which in

antiquity the repeated rebuilding’s of human habitations on a single site

created a perpetually increasing elevation, is by no means difficult to

understand.

The average life of a mud brick building

today seldom exceeds the span of a single generation: and in earlier times,

military conquest or localized raiding on a smaller scale would certainly have

accounted for demolitions that are more frequent. Roofs would be burnt or

collapse and the upper parts of the walls subside, filling the rooms to about a

third of their height with brick debris. Before rebuilding, the site would

usually be systematically levelled, the stumps of the old walls being used as

foundations for the new.

Prehistoric fortresses at Mersin

Thus, after a time, the town or village

would find itself occupying the summit of a rising eminence; a situation, which

had the double advantage of being easily defensible and of affording an

expansive view of the surrounding countryside. One remembers in a connection

how the walls of the little prehistoric fortresses at Mersin in Cilicia were

lined with identical small dwellings for the garrison; and each was provided

with a pair of slit openings from which a watch could be kept on the approaches

to the mound.

What, then, an excavator is concerned with

is the stratified accumulation of archaeological remains, unconsciously created

by the activities of these early builders. By reversing the process and

examining each successive phase of occupation, from the latest (and therefore

uppermost) downwards, he obtains a chronological cross section of the mound’s history,

and can, if circumstances are favorable, reconstruct a remarkably clear picture

of the cultural and political vicissitudes through which its occupants have

passed.

However, it must be remembered that the

procedure, which he adopts, itself involves a new form of demolition. For as

the architectural remains associated with each phase of occupation are cleared,

examined and recorded, they must in turn be removed in order to attend to the

phase beneath. In a Near Eastern mound, the product of an operation of this

sort is often a deep hole in the ground and very little else that could

interest a subsequent visitor to the site of the excavation.

Museum of Pennsylvania

This road of course prolonged itself

through the Taurus passes, where the mounds are rare. However, once the

Anatolian plateau is reached, they start again and increase in size at the

approach to the great cities of Phrygia. The crossing of the Sangarius River is

marked by a colossal mound representing the remains of the old Phrygian

capital, Gordion, and a wide area around it is studded with tumuli covering the

graves of the Phrygian kings.

Excavations by the University Museum of

Pennsylvania in the side of the hill have revealed a gigantic stone gateway,

from which travelers on the Royal Road must have set out on their journey

northward. Half a mile further on, a stretch of the road itself is exposed,

where it passes between the tumuli; and its fifteen foot width of stone

pavement is still perfectly preserved.

(1) A. H. Layard, Nineveh and its Remains.

(2) Published in “Iraq”,

(3) Happening to visit the excavations when

this section of the road had just been located. I found the pavement newly

cleared and, standing in the center of it, the American director, a volume of

Herodotus in his hand, from which he was declaiming the passage in praise of

the Persian couriers who carried the royal dispatches from Sardis to Susa.

Anatolia or Kurdistan

However, it is not only on great highways

of this sort that the purpose of mounds can be identified. In every major

highland valley of Anatolia or Kurdistan, there, probably at a river crossing

or road junction, is a substantial mound; the market town or administrative center

of an agricultural district, which may still be crowned by the ruined castle of

a feudal landlord—the “derebey” of Ottoman times. Scattered elsewhere over the

face of the valley are smaller mounds, which were mere villages or farmsteads.

There are mounds making obvious frontier

posts, and lines of mounds sketching in the communications, which served

military defense systems of the remote past: and there are skeins of more

recent defenses, like the fortresses of Diocletian’s Hines.1 and finally, there

are tiny, insignificant looking mounds standing no more than a few feet above

the level of the plain. In addition, sometimes these prove to be the most

important of all: for they have not been occupied for many thousands of years,

and the relics of their prehistoric occupants lie directly beneath the surface.

Future of Bulgaria

The majority of Americans who wrote on

Bulgaria or visited the country showed energy, curiosity, sense of wonder, and

faith in the future of Bulgaria and mankind even when they

were disappointed in some particular aspect of their travel experience. They considered

knowledge, and their travel experiences important, their individual responses

and reactions significant and worth preserving. Although they were usually

unfamiliar with the Bulgarian language, history and customs, their comments on

the Bulgarian character were generally positive.

It was difficult for the American traveler,

who knew little about the country, to come to terms with the complex cultural

milieu of Bulgarians, Greeks, Turks, etc. and to resolve the difference

sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant between the Balkan mind cushioned on a

multi-layered rich past and a modern American mind formed in the New World free

from the burden of the past.  The

Bulgarians, busy with their struggle to free themselves and maintain their

independence, thought little about and did even less to attract tourists.

For the American tourists the Balkans were

on the periphery of their travel plans. Most of those who visited the country

went there as passers-by and caught only a glimpse of Bulgaria. Bulgaria in the

view of the American traveler was either a peasant society or a society in

transition with many Oriental traits still present. The Bulgarians were

described as simple, natural, methodological, disciplined, and diligent. There

were, of course, some descriptions which were tendentious and even misleading.

The Orthodox Church was criticized, in part, in the belief that this would make

Americans come to the support of the American missionaries working in Bulgaria.

However, the commentaries of these pioneer

American travelers are not without merit. Through sharing their travel

experiences with their countrymen, the American travelers contributed toward

making Bulgaria known to Americans. Although most of the descriptions were

brief, they nonetheless were good enough to create an image of a country with a

long history, a relatively heroic past and a people struggling to free itself,

and modernize its country.

Fourteenth century caravanserai

As a result, the actual level of occupation

remains precisely where it was six centuries ago. Seeking a full contrast in

regional conditions, my mind turns to mediaeval Baghdad. There, in 19411 was

concerned with the repair and restoration of a magnificent fourteenth century

caravanserai in the center of the town. Inside the building, occupational

debris had accumulated until only the tops of the main arches were any longer

visible; and this had to be removed before it could again be put into use.

When the task was finished the fine

proportions of the vaulted hall became apparent; but the pavement upon which

one stood was now found to be exactly nine feet beneath the level of the street

outside, and a stairway had to be built in order to reach it.

In a town built largely of mud brick and

subjected during the past centuries to a series of appalling political and

natural disasters, the level of habitation had risen at the rate of eighteen

inches per hundred years. So here at once is a first clue to the regional

character of mound formation; two central factors which have been conducive to

their creation in the countries of the Near East.

One is the almost universal employment in

those countries of sun-dried brick as a building material; the other,

historical insecurity, coupled with the extraordinary conservatism, which makes

eastern peoples, cling tenaciously to a site once occupied by their ancestors

and obstinately return to it however often they are ejected.

Visit to Egypt

It is interesting to recollect that even

Herodotus, during his visit to Egypt, was already able to observe a

phenomen22on caused by the accumulation of occupational debris in an Egyptian

city, though his conclusion regarding its explanation was understandably at

fault. In his description of Bubastis he says—“The temple stands in the middle

of the city, and is visible on all sides as one walks round it; for as the city

has been raised up by embankment, while the temple has been left untouched in

its original condition, you look down upon it whosesoever you are.

“I In fact, as one sees today at Luxor and

elsewhere, the temples, with their massive stone walls and pillars, have mostly

survived at the original level of their foundation. while the surrounding

dwelling houses and other buildings of the city, whose mud and reed walls have

continually been demolished and renewed, rose gradually above them, leaving

them in a deep hollow, like the Forum of Trajan at Rome.

Country west of Mosul

To confirm this, it may be interesting to

quote at random the reactions of a nineteenth century traveler to the

appearance of the country west of Mosul, during a journey in the spring 1840.

Sir Henry Layard had reached the market town called Tell Afar on his way to the

Sin jar Hills, and he describes his surroundings as follows “Towards evening I

ascended the mound and visited the castle….

From the walls, I had an uninterrupted view

of a vast plain, stretching westward towards the Euphrates, and losing itself

in the hazy distance. The ruins of ancient towns and villages arose on all

sides; and as the sun went down, I counted above one hundred mounds, throwing

their dark and lengthening shadows across the plain. These were the ruins of

Assyrian civilization and prosperity. Centuries have elapsed since a settled

population dwelt in this district of Mesopotamia.

Now, not even the tent of a Bedouin could

be seen. “I Layard was of course wrong in thinking only of the Assyrian nation;

for many of the mounds he was looking at were in fact occupied as early as the

sixth millennium B.C. However, he did not exaggerate their number. During a

survey in 1937, I myself recorded the surface pottery from seventy-five mounds

in that area, and these were only a few selected sites, which I could easily

reach by car during a short three weeks reconnaissance.2

However, apart from the close concentration

of mounds in certain areas of this sort, the pattern, which they make, is often

worth observing. AH over Iraq, and for that matter in neighboring countries, a

glance at the disposal of mounds in a landscape will often reveal to one in the

lividest possible manner some aspect of historical geography, whether political

or economic.

Royal Road

The city of Erbil, for instance, (PL. I)

stands within its fortress walls on a mound whose height almost justifies its

local reputation as the “oldest city in the world”: and from its rooftops, over

the undulating plain to the Zaab river crossings.

Which led to Nineveh and the north, one

sees a line of smaller mounds, pointing the exact direction of the age old

caravan route, which the Achaemenian Persians, coming from Susa, prolonged as

far as their new capital at Sardis. They called it the Royal Road, though it

had existed for several thousand years before their time. Wherever it crossed a

wade and there was a source of water, there also, today, there is a mound; and

villages, which make convenient stopping places on the modem motoring road,

crown many of them.

Certain characteristics

Interesting as this illustration is of how

strati graphical formations can be created, this early mention of Egypt must

serve as an occasion to introduce certain reservations regarding that country,

in relation to the subject under discussion. For it should be said at once that

Egypt has certain characteristics which make it less suitable than others do

for the study of mounds.

This is perhaps partly to be attributed to

the abundant supply and general use of building stone, which greatly prolonged

the survival of Egyptian buildings. But it is also partly due to the fact that,

in the narrow valley of Upper Egypt, land is too valuable to allow large ruin

fields of brick buildings to remain derelict; and the fellahin have long since

discovered that the occupational debris with which such ruins are Hide, when

spread over their fields, makes the finest fertilizer available.

Burin any case, those who have approached

the subject of Egyptology will know that archaeology in Egypt, when it took the

form of actual excavation, has always been concerned almost exclusively with

stone temples, tombs and cemeteries. Mounds in Egypt are confined for the most

part to the Delta of the Nile; and, with so much else to attend to, their

excavation has till now been very considerably neglected.

So let us glance once again at the pattern

of countries in which mounds are everywhere found and have been more generally

excavated. From Egypt they spread northward through the Levant and westward

through Anatolia to the Balkans. Eastward they follow the curve of Breasted’s

“crescent” through the rich farmlands in the foothills of the Armenian

mountains to Iraq and Persia and so, southward of the Elburz range, to

Afghanistan and the Indus valley.

Mesopotamia

But the focal point of the whole area,

where mounds are so plentiful that they become the most characteristic feature

of the landscape, is the twin river valley of Mesopotamia which is in fact not

a valley at all but a vast province of partially irrigated alluvial desert. It

is a habit of thought to apply the name Mesopotamia to this basin of alluvium,

which represents half of modem Iraq. But it has come to be known to our own

generation that the first human settlers in this province, the ancestors of the

later Sumerians, were themselves comparative latecomers, and that the

undulating hill country of northern Iraq had a much earlier record of Neolithic

farming communities.

This may help to explain the impression,

which has grown upon one, after long periods of travel in those parts, that the

Assyrian uplands around Mosul and their westward extension through the valleys

of the Khabur and Balik rivers into North Syria must have been the most thickly

populated area of the completely ancient world. Certainly today, they are more

thickly studded with ancient mounds than any other part of the Near East.

Bulgarian Language

The majority of Americans who wrote on

Bulgaria or visited the country showed energy, curiosity, sense of wonder, and

faith in the future of Bulgaria and mankind even when they were disappointed in

some particular aspect of their travel experience. They considered knowledge,

and their travel experiences important, their individual responses and

reactions significant and worth preserving. Although they were usually

unfamiliar with the Bulgarian language, history and customs, their

comments on the Bulgarian character were generally positive.

It was difficult for the American traveler,

who knew little about the country, to come to terms with the complex cultural

milieu of Bulgarians, Greeks, Turks, etc. and to resolve the difference

sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant between the Balkan mind cushioned on a

multi-layered rich past and a modern American mind formed in the New World free

from the burden of the past.  The

Bulgarians, busy with their struggle to free themselves and maintain their

independence, thought little about and did even less to attract tourists.

American tourists in Balkans

For the American tourists the Balkans were

on the periphery of their travel plans. Most of those who visited the country

went there as passers-by and caught only a glimpse of Bulgaria. Bulgaria in the

view of the American traveler was either a peasant society or a society in

transition with many Oriental traits still present.

The Bulgarians were described as simple,

natural, methodological, disciplined, and diligent. There were, of course, some

descriptions which were tendentious and even misleading. The Orthodox Church

was criticized, in part, in the belief that this would make Americans come to

the support of the American missionaries working in Bulgaria.

However, the commentaries of these pioneer

American travelers are not without merit. Through sharing their travel

experiences with their countrymen, the American travelers contributed toward

making Bulgaria known to Americans. Although most of the descriptions were brief,

they nonetheless were good enough to create an image of a country with a long

history, a relatively heroic past and a people struggling to free itself, and

modernize its country.

Archaeological monument

An alternative situation arises, when an

important building or civic lay out is encountered, of the sort which may

afterwards need to be preserved as an archaeological monument. In this case,

the excavation will merely be extended to cover as much as is required of the

stratum concerned, and if a strati graphical sounding to a greater depth is

required, it will be made elsewhere.

However, to return to the creation and

development of mounds themselves, it would be a mistake to think that the

process is always as simple and straightforward as that already described. A

wide variety of circumstances may serve to disrupt their symmetry and

complicate their stratification.

For instance, the diminishing living space

at the summit or a sudden increase in the settlement’s population may cause the

focus of occupation to move away from its original center. In order to make

this clear, we may at this point enumerate some of the principal variations of

the theme of anatomical development, which are to be found, particularly in

Mesopotamian mounds.

Orthodox sequence

As a point of departure then, let us take

the orthodox sequence of developments illustrated in the upper part of Fig. 1.

This diagram represents the habitation of a village community with a static

population. The superimposed remains of five principal occupations have

gradually created a small artificial hill: but as the site of the village rose

in level, the building space on the summit became more and more restricted by

the sloping sides of the mound.

It may well have been for this reason that

the place was eventually abandoned. In any case, after the inhabitants of the

fifth settlement had departed, the ruins of their houses were molded by the

weather to form the peak of a symmetrical tumulus. Vegetation started to grow

upon it, and soon all traces of occupation had disappeared beneath a shallow

mantle of humus soil.

The second and third diagrams in Fig. I

both illustrate cases where the focus of occupation has shifted. The former

represents a phenomenon, which we shall later have an opportunity of studying

in detail at a particular site tell Hassuna in northern Iraq, which will

provide a perfect example.

I in the diagram, after five principal

periods of occupation, a small mound has been formed in a maimed exactly

similar to that in the previous instance. However, from this point onwards,

occupation has continued, not on the summit of the mound, since that had become

inadequate, but terraced into its sloping flank and spreading over an extended

area of new ground beneath.

Anti Russian and pro German

He was surprised to see in the Eiffel

Restaurant the waiters “puffed tobacco smoke as they took the guests’ orders,

and reclined at full length on a bench in the lull of business.” He tried to

explain this by making a sarcastic comment that democracy seemed to have made

some headway since the liberation of the country. However, the author liked the

friendliness and great hospitality of the Bulgarian people he met along the

Danube.

Bigelow was anti-Russian and pro-German.

He was very critical of Russia’s policy in Bulgaria and thought that Germany

ought to have the final say in Southeastern Europe. He attempted to explain

Bulgarian politics by quoting an unnamed Bulgarian diplomat critical of Russian

policy toward his country, and hoping that not the Russian Tsar but the German

Emperor would become the “Protector of the Danube.”

James M. Buckley travelled through Bulgaria

in 1888. He believed that each traveler saw “what he took with him,” and for

this reason he thought that his experiences were worth recording because

“several views are more illuminating than one.” In his books Travels in Three

Continents: Europe, Africa, Asia he described his trip through Eastern Rumelia

and Bulgaria.

 “The

view as we rode along was wonderfully beautiful. Villages and towns are far

apart, and one might easily have fancied himself travelling through a

succession of parks connected with some ancestral estate, his only perplexity

that he saw no house or castle, and few persons.” He was impressed by the

“immense masses of granite” that surround and underlie Plovdiv. He praised the

political “independent existence” of Eastern Rumelia which gave “it much more

interest to Western travelers than would have if still a province of Turkey.”

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

He took part in a convention in Sofia of

the Bulgarian Protestants and was impressed with their work. However, like

Mutchmore, he was very critical of the Bulgarian Orthodox

Church. In his view the Bulgarian Church “was a very low form of

Christianity,” for which the principles of the Gospel were “concealed under the

mask of superstitions; no intelligible instruction is given; pomp, ceremony,

priest craft, support the religion, which exerts little influence over the

daily lives of the people, and can afford little or no comfort in their

experience of privation and toil.”

Sofia, the capital city, did not impress

him much. Were it not for the palace, one or two elaborate hotels of an Eastern

style, and the Bulgarian letters on the signs, he wrote, it would be easy to

“mistake the place for an American prairie town already endeavoring to put on

the airs of a city.” He was more impressed by the fertility of the land, the

number of rivers which flew into the Danube and with the herds of cattle and

flocks of sheep. Many Bulgarians, he wrote, were very “striking-looking men.”

However, the general aspect of the country was “not one of prosperity, and a

primitive scene was that of buffaloes drawing carts.”

State of the Matharas

The most important of them is the state of

the Matharas, who are also called Pitribhaktas. At the peak of their power they

dominated the area between the Mahanadi and the Krishna. Their contemporaries

and neighbors were the Vasisthas, the Nalas and the Manas.

The Vasisthas ruled on the borders of

Andhra m south Kalmga, the Nalas in the forest area of Mahakantara, and the

Manas in the coastal area m the north beyond the Mahanadi. Each state developed

its system of taxation, administration and military organization.

 The

Nalas, and probably the Manas, also evolved their system of coinage. Each

kingdom favored the brahmanas with land grants and even invited them from

outside, and most kings performed Vedic sacrifices not only for spiritual merit

but also for power, prestige and legitimacy.

Elements of advanced culture

In this period elements of advanced culture

were not confined to the coastal belt known as Kalmga, but appeared in the

other parts of Orissa. The find of the Nala gold coins in the tribal Bastar

area in Madhya Pradesh is significant. It presupposes an economic system in

which gold money was used in large transactions and served as medium of payment

to high functionaries. Similarly the Manas seemed to have issued copper coins,

which implies the use of metallic money even by artisans and peasants.

The various states added to their income by

forming new fiscal units in rural areas. The Matharas created a district called

Mahendrabhoga in the area of the Mahendra Mountains. They also ruled over a

district called Dantayavagubhoga, which apparently supplied ivory and no gruel

to its administrators and had thus been created in a backward area.

The Matharas made endowments called

agroharas, which consisted of land and income from villages and were meant for

supporting religious and educational activities of the brahmanas. Some

agraharas had to pay taxes although elsewhere in the, country they were tax-free.

The induction of the brahmanas through land grants in tribal, forest and red

soil areas brought new lands under cultivation and introduced better methods of

agriculture, based on improved knowledge of weather conditions.

Formerly the year was divided into three

units, each consisting of four months, and time was reckoned on the basis of

three seasons. Under the Matharas, in the middle of the fifth century began the

practice of dividing the year into twelve lunar months. This implied a detailed

idea of weather conditions, which was useful for agricultural operations.

Spread of Civilization in Eastern India

Signs of Civilization

A region is considered to be civilized if

its people know the .art of writing, have a system for collecting taxes and

maintaining order, and possess social classes and specialists for performing

priestly, administrative and producing functions. Above all a civilized society

should be able to produce enough to support not only the actual producers

consisting of artisans and peasants but also consumers who are not engaged in

production. All these elements make for civilization. But they appear in a

large part of eastern India on a recognizable scale very late. Practically no

written records are found in the greater portions of eastern Madhya.

Pradesh and the adjoining areas of Orissa,

of West Bengal, of Bangladesh and of Assam till the middle of the fourth century

A.D The period from the fourth to the seventh century is remarkable for the

diffusion of an advanced rural economy, formation of state systems and

delineation of social classes in eastern Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, eastern Bengal

and southeast Bengal, and Assam, This is indicated by the distribution of a

good number of inscriptions in these areas in Gupta times Many inscriptions

dated in the Gupta era are found in these areas.

They are generally in the form of land

grants made by feudatory princes and others for religious purposes to Buddhists

and brahmanas and also to Vaishnavite temples and Buddhist monasteries. These

beneficiaries played an important role in spreading and strengthening elements

of danced culture the process can be understood by attempting a region wise

survey.

Orissa and Eastern and Southern Madhya Pradesh

Kalinga or the coastal Orissa, south of the

Mahanadi, leapt into importance under Asoka, but a strong state was founded in

that area only m the first century B. C. Its ruler Kharavela advanced as far as

Magadha. In the first and second centuries AD the ports of Orissa carried on

brisk trade m pearls, ivory and muslin.

Excavations at Sisupalgarh, the site of

Kalinganagari which was the capital of Kharavela at a distance of 60 km from Bhubaneswar,

have yielded several Roman objects indicating trade contacts with the Roman Empire.

But the greater part of Orissa, particularly northern, Orissa, neither

experienced state formation nor witnessed much commercial activity. In the

fourth century Kosala and Mahakantara figure in the list of conquests made by

Samudragupta. They covered parts of northern and western Orissa. From .the

second half of the fourth century to the sixth century several states were

formed in Orissa, and at least five of them can be clearly identified.

Religious purposes

For a century from A D 432-33 we notice a

series of land sale documents recorded on copperplates Pundravardhanabhukti,

which covered almost the whole of north Bengal, now mostly in Bangladesh, Most

land grants indicate that land was purchased with gold coins called dinara. But

once land was given for religious purposes, the dunes did

not have to pay any tax. The land transactions show the involvement of leading

scribes, merchants, artisans landed classes, etc.’., in local administration,

which was manned by the governors appointed by the Gupta emperors.

The land sale documents not only .indicate

the existence of different’ social groups and local functionaries but also shed

valuable light on the expansion of agriculture Mostly land purchased for

religious endowments is described as fallow, uncultivated, and therefore imitated

Without doubt the effect of the grants was to bring plots of land within the

purview of cultivation and settlement.

The deltaic portion of Bengal formed by the

Brahmaputra and called Samatata was made to acknowledge the authority of

Samudragupta It covered southeast Bengal. A portion of this territory may have

been populated and important enough to attract the attention of the Gupta

conqueror.

But possibly it was not ruled by brahmamsed

princes, and consequently it neither used Sanskrit nor adopted the varna

system, as was the case in north Bengal. From about A D. 525 the area came to

have a fairly organized state covering Samatata and a portion of Vanga which

lay on the western boundary of Samatata. It issued a good number of gold coins

in the second half of the sixth century.

Dacca area

In addition to this state, m the seventh

century we come across the state of the Khadgas, literally swordsmen, in the Dacca

area. We also notice the kingdom of a brahmana feudatory

called Lokanatha and that of the Rates, both in the Comilla area all these

princes of southeast and central Bengal issued land grants in the sixth and

seventh centuries.

Like the Orissa n kings they also created

agraharas. The land charters show cultivation of Sanskrit, leading to the use

of some sophisticated meters in the second half of the seventh century. At the

same time they attest the expansion of cultivation and rural settlements. A

fiscal and administrative unit called Daudabhukti was formed in the border

areas lying between Bengal and Orissa. Danda means punishment, and bhakti enjoyment.

Apparently the unit was created for taming and punishing the tribal inhabitants

of that region. It may have promoted Sanskrit and other elements of culture in

tribal areas.

Finally compiled in Gupta

The Puranas follow the lines of the epics,

and the earlier ones were finally compiled in Gupta times. They are full of

myths, legends, sermons, etc., which were meant for the education and

edification of the common people. The period also saw the compilation of

various Smritis or the law books written in verse. The phase of writing

commentaries on the Smritis begins after the Gupta period.

The Gupta period also saw the development

of Sanskrit grammar based on Panini and Patanjali. This period is particularly

memorable for the compilation of the Amarakosa by Amara Sinha, who was a

luminary in the court of Chandragupta II. This lexicon is learnt by heart by

students taught Sanskrit in the traditional fashion.

On the whole the Gupta period was a bright

phase in the history of classical literature. It developed an ornate style,

which was different from the old simple Sanskrit. From this period onwards we

find greater emphasis on verse than on prose. We also come across a few corner tarries.

There is no doubt that Sanskrit was the court language of the Guptas. Although

we get a good deal of brahmanical religious literature, the period’ also

produced some of the earliest pieces of secular literature.

Science and Technology

In the field of mathematics we come across

during this period a work; called Aryabhatiya written by Aryabhata, who

belonged to Patali porta It seems that this mathematician was | well versed in

various kinds of calculations. A Gupta inscription of 448 from Allahabad

district suggests that the decimal system was known in India at the beginning

of the fifth century AD In the fields of astronomy a book called Romaka

Sidhanta was compiled It was influenced by Greek ideas, as can be inferred from

its name.

The Gupta craftsmen distinguished

themselves by their work in iron and bronze. We know of several bronze images

of the Buddha, which began to be produced on a considerable scale because of

the knowledge of advanced iron technology In the case of iron objects the best

example is the iron pillar found at Delhi near Mehraub.

Manufactured m the fourth century A.D., the

pillar1 has not gathered any ’ rust m the subsequent 15 centuries, which is a

great tribute to the technological skill of the craftsmen It was impossible to

produce such a pillar in any iron foundry m the West Until about a century ago.

It is a pity that the later craftsmen could not develop this knowledge further

Appeared in Prakrit

In the coastal Orissa writing was certainly

known from the third century B C., and inscriptions up to the middle of the

fourth century A. D. appeared in Prakrit. But from about A.D. 350 Sanskrit

began to be used. What is more significant, charters in this language appear

outside the coastal belt beyond the Mahanadi in the north.

Thus the art of writing and Sanskrit

language spread over a good portion of Orissa, and some of the finest Sanskrit

verses are found in the epigraphs of the period. Sanskrit served as the vehicle

of not only brahmanical religion and culture but also of property laws and

social regulations in new areas. Verses from the Puranas and Dharmasastras are

quoted in Sanskrit charters, and kings claim to be the preservers of the Varna

system. The affiliation of the people to the culture of the Gangetic basin is

emphasized. A dip in the Ganga at Prying at the confluence of the Ganga and the

Yamuna is considered holy, and victorious kings visit Pitaya

Bengal

As regards Bengal, portions of north Bengal,

now in Bogra district, give evidence of the prevalence of writing in the time

of Asoka. An inscription indicates several settlements maintaining a storehouse

filled with coins and food grains for the upkeep of Buddhist monks. Clearly the

local peasants were m a position to spare a part of their produce for paying

taxes and making gifts.

Further, people of this area knew Prakrit

and professed Buddhism, Similarly an inscription found in the coastal district

of Noakhali in southeast Bengal shows that people knew Prakrit and Brahmi

script in that area in the second century B.C. But for the greater part of

Bengal we do not hear anything till we come to the fourth .century A.D In about

the middle of the fourth century a king with the title of maharaja ruled in

Pokharna on the Damodara in Bankura district. He knew Sanskrit and was a

devotee of Vishnu, to whom he possibly granted a village.

The area lying between the Ganga and the

Brahmaputra now covering Bangladesh emerged as a settled and fairly Sanskrit educated

area in the fifth and sixth centuries The Gupta governors seem to have become

independent after about A.D. 550, and occupied north Bengal, a portion may have

been seized by the rulers of Kamarupa Local vassal princes called Samantha

maharajas had created their own administrative apparatus and built their

military organization consisting of horses, elephants and foot soldiers and

boats to fight their rivals and collect taxes from the local peasantry. By A.D.

600 the area came to be known as Gaudi with its independent state ruled by

Sasanka, the adversary of Harsha

Turkish girls attend foreign schools in Constantinople

But after all, these changes are

interesting chiefly as indications of the fact that the spirit of Turkish women

has come, to some degree, under the influence of new ideas. Polygamy is on the

decline. Greater attention is now paid to the education of girls among all

classes of the community.

In wealthy families it is common for the

daughters to have English or French or German governesses, and to be instructed

in the ordinary branches of education, even to the extent of doing something so

foreign as to learn to ride. In a few instances, Turkish girls attend foreign schools,

and it is a most significant sign of the times to see the female relatives of

such girls present at the public proceedings of these institutions. Periodicals

providing special literature for ladies have appeared, and there are Turkish

authoresses, some of whom enjoy a great reputation among their countrywomen.

As might be expected, this upward movement

meets with opposition, as upward movements always meet wherever they occur.

Such a thing has been known as an imperial irade, commanding all foreign

governesses to be dismissed from Turkish homes, because teachers of pernicious

ideas. On the eve of Ramadan it is usual to issue strict orders for Turkish

ladies to keep their veils down.

Upon gentleman

A Turkish lady once attended, with her

husband, an “At Home” in a foreign house. Shortly thereafter, the police called

upon the

gentleman, late in the evening, as the custom is in this part

of the world, and informed him that he was wanted at the police-court next

morning on important business.

What that business was the police did not

condescend to say, preferring to make night uncomfortable for the couple, by

keeping them in suspense. Upon appearing at the court, the husband learned that

the visit of his wife to a foreign house, on the occasion referred to, had been

noticed and duly reported to the authorities, and he was warned (under threat

of severe penalty) not to allow the offence to be repeated.

At public gatherings at the Sweet Waters of

Europe and Asia, the police watch the behavior of Turkish ladies as though so

many naughty or helpless children were abroad. One has seen a policeman order a

lady to put up the window of her carriage, because she attracted too much

admiration. At another time, one has seen a company of respectable Turkish

ladies, who were enjoying a moonlight row on the Bosporus, packed home by the

police. The life of educated Turkish women is rendered hard and humiliating by

such restrictions.

Suburbs on the Bosporus

The time-tables of the steamers which ply

between the city and the suburbs on the Bosporus and

the Sea of Marmora, adopt “Turkish time,” and require you to convert the hour

indicated into the corresponding hour from the European or “Frank” standpoint;

and the same two-fold way of thinking on the subject is imposed upon all

persons having dealings with the Government and the native population in

general A similar diversity exists in regard to the length of the year. The

Turkish year consists of twelve lunar months, a thirteenth being added from

time to time to settle accounts with the sun. The question when Ramadan, the

month of fasting by day and of feasting at night begins, or when the festival

of Bagram commences is determined, at least formally, by the appearance of the

new moon, upon the testimony of two Moslem witnesses before a judge in any part

of the Empire.

Different localities

Thus these religious seasons might commence

on different days in different localities, the

moon not being visible in some places, on account of the state of the weather.

The formula in which the approach of these seasons is now announced to the

public, since the increase of astronomical knowledge in Turkish circles, is a

curious compromise between former uncertainty and actual assurance on that

point “Ramadan begins (say) on Tuesday next, provided the new moon is visible.

If not, the Fast will date from Wednesday.” Alongside the

Turkish mode of measuring the year, there

is the method introduced into the Roman world by Julius Caesar, the “Old

Style,” followed by Greeks and Armenians, and also the “New Style,” the mode of

reckoning inaugurated by Pope Gregory XIII., now thirteen days in advance of

the Julian calendar. Accordingly, to prevent mistakes in regard to a date,

letters and newspapers are often dated according to both styles.

With some the year begins in March, with

the advent of spring; with others it commences in September, when autumn

gathers in the fruits of the earth; others make January, in midwinter, their

starting- point The difference between the “Old Style” and the “New Style”

involves two celebrations, as a rule, of Easter, two observances of New Year’s Day,

while Christmas is celebrated three times, the Armenian Church having combined

the commemoration of that festival with the more ancient festival of the

Epiphany. For one section of the community, moreover, the day of rest is

Sunday, for another Saturday, for yet another the day of special religious

services is Friday.

Rule of Constantine

The very geography of the place offers a

wide outlook. As a part of his everyday experience, a resident of

Constantinople lives within sight of Europe and Asia. Every day of his life, he

sees the waterway that runs between the two great continents thronged with

vessels of every nation, hurrying to and fro to bring the ends of the earth

together. Then, how much human power has been enthroned here the dominion of

Byzantium for one thousand years; the rule of Constantine and his successors for

eleven centuries; the sway of the Ottoman Sultans through four hundred and

fifty years. If what we see ought to do with what we are, here is a mound in

which to fashion a large life. But Europe and Asia are present in more than

their physical aspects, or in long periods of their history. Their

civilizations also meet here.

On every side there is the pressure of a

dominant Oriental society and polity, with its theocratic government,

autocracy, the creed of Islam, polygamy, slavery, eunuchs, secluded and veiled

womanhood, men in long robes and turbans, sluggishness, repose, the speech of

Central Asia softened by the accents of Persia and Arabia, minarets, domes

surmounted by the Crescent, graceful but strange salutations, festivals which

celebrate events in a course of history not your own, and express joys which

have never gladdened your soul And mingling, but not blended, with this world

of Asiatic thought and sentiment and manner, is a European world, partly

native, partly foreign, with ideas of freedom, science, education, bustle,

various languages, railroads, tramways, ladies in the latest Parisian fashions,

church bells, the banner of the Cross, newspapers and periodicals from every

European and American capital, knitting scattered children to the life of their

fatherland.

Foreign communities in Istanbul

The members of the foreign communities in the

City of the Sultan do not forget the lands of their birth, or of their race and

allegiance. Though circumstances have carried them far from their native shores

and skies, physical separation does not sever them from the spirit of their

peoples. Nay, as if to make patriotic sentiment easier, foreigners are placed

under the peculiar arrangements embodied in what are termed the Capitulations,

whereby, in virtue of old treaties, they enjoy the privilege of living to a

great extent under the laws of their respective countries, with little

interference on the part of the Ottoman Government.

When your house is your castle, in the

sense that no Turkish policeman dares enter it without the authorization of

your Consulate or Embassy, when legal differences between yourself and your

fellow-countrymen are submitted to judges, and argued by barristers, bred in

the law which rules in your own land, when your church and school can be what

they are at home, and when you can forward your letters, not only to foreign

countries but even to some parts of the Turkish Empire, with a stamp bearing

the badge of your own Government, it is natural that European residents in

Constantinople should be able to preserve their special character, both after

living here for many years, and also from generation to generation.

Istanbul - European world

A Mohammedan polity is opposed to the

assimilation of strangers, unless the aliens become converts to Islam. Whatever

process of assimilation goes on in Constantinople appears in the slow changes

of the East towards some likeness to the West Otherwise, the European

world is as present to the view as the Asiatic, and together

they spread a wide vista before the mind.

Furthermore, what a broad outlook does the

heterogeneous population afford! Whether you walk the streets or stay at home,

on the mart of business, at all large social gatherings, in all public

enterprises, you deal with diverse nationalities and races. Everywhere and

always a cosmopolitan atmosphere pervades your life. One servant in your

household will be a Greek, another an Armenian, a third a German or an

Englishman. Your gardener is a Croat, as tender to flowers as he is fierce

against his foes. The boatmen of your cacique are Turks.

In building a house, the foundations are

excavated by Lazes; the quarrymen must be Croats; the masons and carpenters are

Greeks and Armenians; the hodmen, Kurds; the hamals, Turks; the plumbers,

Italians; the architect is an Englishman, American, or a foreigner of some

other kind; the glaziers must be Jews. Fourteen nationalities are represented

by the students and professors of an international college.

Pilgrimages comes round

When the season of pilgrimages comes round,

the streets are thronged by Tartars, Circassia’s, Persians, Turcoman, on their

way to Mecca and Medina, wild-looking fellows in rough but picturesque garb,

staring with the wonder and simplicity of children at the novelties they see,

purchasing trifles as though treasures, yet stopping to give altos to a beggar,

and groping for the higher life.

Nor is it only in great matters that this wideness of human life comes home to the mind in Constantinople. It is pressed upon the attention by the diversity that prevails, likewise, in matters of comparatively slight importance; in such an affair, for example, as the calculation of time. For some, the pivotal event of history is the birth of Christ; for others, it is the Flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, and accordingly, two systems of the world’s chronology are in vogue.

One large part of the populations still adheres to the primitive idea that a new day commences at sunset, while another part of the community defers that event until the moment after midnight. Hence in your move-mints and engagements you have constantly to calculate the precise time of day according to both views upon the subject.

Gentleman from Istanbul

On the occasion of a visit to a Turkish

gentleman in his garden, it so happened that two of his

nieces, not knowing that any one was calling, came to greet their uncle.

Surprised at seeing a man with him, the young ladies started back, as gazelles

might start at the sight of a hunter. Their uncle, however, summoned them to

return, and with extreme courtesy introduced them to his visitor, with the

information that one of the young ladies could speak English. Conversation in

that language had not gone far, when another gentleman was announced. Instantly

the girls sprang to their feet and darted away as for dear life. “See,” said

the uncle in tones of mingled vexation and sorrow, “See what it is to be an

educated Turkish lady!”

A Turkish gentleman of high rank wishing

his daughters to enjoy the advantage of a European education, but anxious to

spare them as much as possible the chagrin and ennui of being educated above

the station of a Turkish lady, hoped to attain his object by having his girls

learn to speak French without being able to read in that language. Such

experiences are disheartening. But, as the pale flowers which come ere winter

has wholly gone herald the spring and foretell the glory of summer, so the

recent improvements in the lot of Turkish women, however slight they may appear

meantime, warrant the hope of further progress and final emancipation.

EPILOGUE

To live in Constantinople is to live in a

very wide world. The city, it is true, is not a seat of lofty intellectual

thought. Upon none of its hills have the Muses come to dwell. It is not a center

of literary activity; it is not a home of Art Here is no civic life to share,

no far-reaching public works of philanthropy to enlarge the heart, no

comprehensive national life to inspire patriotism, no common religious

institutions to awaken the sense of a vast brotherhood enfolded within the same

great and gracious heavens. If one is so inclined, it is easy for life here to

be exceedingly petty. And yet, it is certain that to live in Constantinople is

to live in a wide world. It is not for any lack of incentive that a resident

here fails “to think imperially” or to feel on an imperial scale.

When a man possessed by the genius of the

place quits the city to reside elsewhere, the horizon of his life contracts and

dwindles, as when a man descends from the wide views of a mountain peak to the

life pent within the walls of a valley. For nowhere else is the mind not only

confronted, but, if one may thus express it, assailed by so many varied

subjects demanding consideration, or the heart appealed to by so many interests

for its sympathy.

Spiritual guide

A pupil complained to his spiritual

guide of being much disturbed by impertinent visitors, who broke in

upon his valuable time, and he asked, How he could get rid of them? The

superior replied, “To such of them as are poor, lend money, and from those that

are rich ask something, when you may depend upon not seeing one of them again.”

If a beggar was the leader of the army of Islamism, the infidels would flee to

China through fear of his importunity.

Actions correspond

A lawyer said to his father, “Those fine

speeches of the declaimers make no impression on me, because 1 do not see that

their actions correspond with their precepts: they teach

people, to forsake the world, whilst themselves accumulate property. A wise

man, who preaches without practicing, will not impress others. That person is

wise who abstained from sin, not he who teaches well to others whilst himself committee

evil.

The wise man who indulges in sensual

gratifications, being himself bewildered, how can he guide others? ” The father

replied, “0 my son you ought not, merely from this vain opinion, to reject the

doctrines of the preacher, thus pursuing the paths of vanity, by imputing

errors to the learned; and whilst you are searching for an immaculate teacher,

are deprived of the benefits of learning; like the blind man, who one night

falling into the mud, cried out, ‘  Moslems bring a lamp to show me the way ? ’ An

impudent woman, who heard him, said, ‘You cannot see a lamp, what then can it

show you? ’

Moreover, the society of the preacher

resembles the shop of a trader, where, until you pay money, you cannot carry

away the goods; and here, unless you come with good inclination, you will not

derive any benefit. Listen to the discourse of the learned man with the utmost

attention, although his actions may not correspond with his doctrine. It is a

futile objection of gainsayers that, ‘How can he who is asleep awaken others? ’

It behooved a man to receive instruction, although the advice be written on a

wall.”

Certain holy man

A certain holy man having

quitted a monastery and the society of religious men, became a member of a

college. I asked, what was the difference between being a learned and a

religious man that could induce him to change his society? He replied, “The

devotee saves his own blanket out of the waves, and the learned man endeavors to

rescue others from drowning.”